Sir, – In 2022, at the age of 16, Shadi Khoury, a Palestinian, was arrested by the Israeli authorities. His case is well known. He has been unjustly sentenced for alleged, but unproven, participation in a protest.
On March 29th Shadi will be sent to prison for two-plus years. The signatories below have respectfully appealed to the Israeli court to show compassion for this young person.
Shadi has endured much in the long process that led from his arrest as a boy to his sentencing, having already spent a year under house arrest.
We believe, in these circumstances, releasing this young person back to his family would be a humane act of clemency and help towards ending the hopeless cycle that imprisonment of young people can create.
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As educators, and citizens of the world, we know that it is the young people who will create a better future. – Yours, etc,
ANDREA WARD,
Glenageary,
Co Dublin,
Dr MARTINA DEVLIN, author and columnist,
DENIS HALLIDAY, former assistant secretary general, United Nations,
Dr NIAMH HARDIMAN, emeritus professor, University College Dublin,
ROBERT HAUGHTON, former Appeal Court judge,
JOHN LONERGAN, former governor, Mountjoy Prison, Dublin
PROINSIAS DE ROSSA, former government minister, former member of the European Parliament
EILÉAN Ní CHUILLEANÁIN, poet, co-founding editor of Cyphers magazine, Fellow emeritus of Trinity College Dublin, Saoi of Aosdána.
